Our wonderful spring continues...

Good morning.
It's been a great weekend so far.
Sunday took me to Muskegon to spend Mother's Day with my Mom. Helped her clean her apartment, and cut her hair. We then went to Applebee's for lunch where I had the Bourbon Steak, and Mom had the house sirloin. They were very good. Then over to the VFW for drinks, visiting, and some pull tabs. Mom doesn't get to the VFW because the driving service for seniors doesn't go to North Muskegon where the VFW is located, so it's a treat when I come to town and take her there. The place was quite busy for a Sunday. Found that they had a Mother's Day breakfast where all Mothers got their breakfast free. Mom enjoyed visiting with people she hadn't seen in a while. We left there, and picked up some groceries for her. Got her back to her apartment, put the groceries away, and headed back to Lansing. Returned home to find Craig had finished correcting our returns and did laundry. We relaxed on the deck with cocktails enjoying our continued spring.
Monday morning, while Craig slept, I cleaned the interior of the mo-ho, and washed the outside. I also washed the Kia and PT Cruiser. I then did a bit of weeding. After Craig got up, we did our usual bank, P.O. and grocery shopping. Back home, I did more weeding and Craig mowed the grass. I then mixed up some weed/grass killer for the pathways. A customer of mine owns a company that is developing 'green' products. One that they just put into testing is a herbicide. She asked me if I could use it in my yard and give them feedback. My yard is a good test site because I have many different possible application areas. I have gravel paths, paved paths, and mulched paths. Some in sun, some in shade. The stuff she gave me needs to be mixed, 1 part herbicide to 3 parts water. I mixed it up, and sprayed the paths. I have to write down the date I sprayed, the areas sprayed and monitor how fast they wilt and die. She said some types of weeds may need a second spraying. It will be interesting to see how it works. I also mixed up some lawn weed killer, and spot weeded the lawn.
We then relaxed the rest of the early evening on the deck soaking in the nice warm weather, and the greening of the yard. :-)
Craig made ham steaks for dinner, with home made mashed potatoes and corn on the cob.
And now, I'm going out and do more weeding. I'm about 3/4 done and hope to finish it this week. :-)

It's Mother's Day!

Good morning.
Spring weather continues with today going for 67 and sunny. :-)
I've just returned from cleaning the Salon, and just finished my shower, working on my coffee, and as soon as I finish this post, I'm off to Muskegon to spend the day with Mom.
The week ended very busy, and we came home and was able to sit out on the deck with cocktails. ;-)
Craig made very tasty taco salad for dinner.
He's still sleeping at the moment, but is staying home today to finish the amended state returns.
So off I go!
Happy Mother's Day!

road trip

Good morning.
The picture says it all. We're under a winter storm warning for the next couple of days. Rain, freezing rain, and snow. We should be in the upper 40's, and we'll only be in the mid 30's. Yuk!
So you southern bloogers, keep sending me your spring pics to help me through. :-)
Spring will eventually come to Michigan....it will.
Yesterday wasn't as nice as forecast. No sun, and windy, but we had planned to go to Muskegon to see my Mom, so the weather didn't really matter.
Had a nice visit. Cut her hair, took her to lunch at Applebee's where she had boneless chicken wings, Craig had a quesadilla, and I had a ribblet platter. Good food! Then to the 'club' for drinks and pull-tabs. No luck with pull-tabs this time. But it was good to see her, and we got there and back safely.
So today will be our usual Monday stuff. Banking, shopping, and back home before the weather turns bad this afternoon.

The days highlights

Good morning.
Yesterday was very busy. Craig had his doctors appointment which turned out better that expected.
Then to the bank for the businesses deposit, and Meijer's for groceries.
Back home, I played on the puter, and Craig did his usual bookwork and laundry.
In the afternoon, Craig noticed a box outside the door.
I was excited to see that I got my new keyboard much quicker than expected.

I know you can't see the pathetic condition of the previous one, but trust me, it was pathetic!
The new one is very basic, as I needed an older plugin version. Most of the new ones are usb connect, but I don't have many of those ports on my old xp.

It's also a little bit getting use to it with the keys black and closer together, but it sure looks good!
And for dinner, Craig decided to do something different with our boneless skinless chicken breasts. He cut them up into bite sized pieces, put them in a bag with olive oil, lemon pepper seasoning, and garlic. then pan fried them. They were very good!

We had them with roasted potatoes and a new side dish, baked zucchini sticks. They were really good too! Of course the recipe is here.

And now, a short work week, with Christmas being on a Saturday.

Mom

Hi.
We've just returned from our visit to Muskegon to see my Mom. the drive was good. the roads were clear.
We arrived around 9:30, and were greeted in the buildings lobby by Mom and my sister-in-law, Ruth. My brother Brian had to work, so she came by herself. We went up to Mom's apartment and chatted for a while why I did some 'chores' for her. Then it was off to Applebee's for lunch. I had a tasty Bourbon steak with roasted red potatoes and sauteed onions and mushrooms. Craig had the quesadilla burger which he said was good. My mom and the sirloin steak, and Ruth had mini beef burgers with french onion soup. It all was very good. The restaurant was packed by the time we left.
Then it was off to the VFW. We were the only ones there when we arrive at 1pm. But it slowly filled by the time we left around 3:30. No luck with the pull tabs, but good conversation. Then it was off to the grocery store for some supplies for Mom. Then we took her home, got her settled, and back to Lansing we went.
It's been a busy 2 days!
And tomorrow, poor Craig can't sleep in because he has his bi-monthly doctors visit. He's thinking he's blood tests will be bad. We'll see.
And now it's Monday evening sitcoms.

a day with Mom

Good morning.
I made it to the Salon, but didn't have time to try out the new wheels on the manicure table. Maybe I'll do that Wed. morning.
Instead, I dropped off checks, trash and picked up the paper on the way home. I showered, woke Craig up, fixed coffee while he showered, then we hopped in the car for a drive to Muskegon to spend the day with my Mom.
I put the cover over her air conditioner, and cut her hair. She also wanted me to take her to the bank. She went last Wed. to get some cash. After she left, she noticed on her receipt there was a lot more money in her account then there should be. I looked at the slip and saw my sister-in-law's name on it. I asked her why that was, and she said she hadn't noticed that. I said I think they took the money out of the wrong account. My brother Louie's name is on my Mom's account. I assume he and his wife have their account there also. Her name is Bonnie, and my Mom's name is Audrey. So before lunch, we stopped at the bank. Sure enough, they had taken it out of Bonnie's account. They were very apologetic. I imagine someone will probably get written up for this. Things like this happen quite a bit. Craig has to constantly watch his deposit slips because we have the business account and our personal account at the same place. They have sometimes deposited the money in the wrong account.
Anyway, with that fixed, we headed over to Applebee's for lunch. Mom had the portabella sirloin steak, while Craig had a burger and I had a club. They were all very good. We've eaten there many times, and the food is always tasty.
Then of course, we went to the VFW for cocktails and pull-tabs. She hadn't been there since I took her in August. The driving service she uses to get around, only does greater Muskegon and the VFW is in North Muskegon. It's only about a mile from her apartment, but not in the city.
Anyway, she was happy to see people she hadn't seen in a while. We ended up a little ahead on the pull-tabs since Craig won $70 on one ticket.
We then stopped at the store for some food supplies for Mom, and then back to her apartment.
We said our good-byes, and made it back to Lansing safely.

I got on-line to find my Christmas lights had been shipped,

and the seller even gave me a $1.60 refund because the

shipping was less than stated. I'll try to remember to take a pic of the tree so you can see these lights. With their large soft glow, they really look good on our 9ft tree.
Since we had a good size lunch, for dinner we had mini frozen pizzas. They were just right. And of course, our Monday night sitcoms.
And that's about all I got for now. Time for my shower.

it was a good day

Good morning.
I made it to Muskegon and back with no issues.
I arrived around 9:30 and visited with my sister and Mom. For lunch, Mom wanted Chinese so we headed out to the House of Chan. A Chinese restaurant that's been there for years. Well, we discovered it was closed on Mondays, and Mom didn't want to deal with all the traffic around the mall, (and I don't know why cause I was doing the driving) so we headed over to Applebee's. As we approached Applebee's we went past a place called the Red Wok. I said "there's a Chinese place, do you want to go there?" Mom decided to try it. It was, of course, was a buffet. Now I don't do buffets but Mom wanted Chinese so I was stuck. But I actually liked it! They had a huge selection of food and I love Chinese food, so I filled my plate twice! The place was clean and the food was well tended to by the staff.
After lunch, we of course went to the club for drinks and pull tabs.
A couple hours later, it was time to take Mom home and head to Grand Rapids to drop Linda off at the airport for her trip back to North Carolina. It was good to see her after so many years, and she enjoyed her time with Mom.
Craig had a busy day while I was gone. He said he got up at 9 which surprised me, went to the bank, the pond store for more Algefix, and grocery shopping. Came home, did more laundry and mowed the yard. Fixed Hamburger Helper for dinner, but used sliced sirloin instead of hamburger, and also added peppers from the garden.
It was a good day.

time for a little drive

Good morning.
The heat is back! Got to 90 yesterday, and today and tomorrow is suppose to be more of the same. But the holiday weekend is projected to be in the mid to upper 70's. That will be perfect!
After cleaning the Salon and the inside of the mo-ho, I woke Craig up and we had coffee and read the Sunday paper. Then it was out to do a little grocery shopping.
And while he did bookwork, bills and laundry, I did manage to wash the mo-ho, PT Cruiser, and Kia, and clean all their windows before I started to melt from the heat.
We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing on the deck with cocktails. I cooked pork cutlets on the grill with marinated zucchini and baked potatoes for dinner. Yummy!
Today, I'll be heading about 100 miles west to Muskegon to visit with my sister and mom. I'll then take her to Grand Rapids (about halfway between Lansing and Muskegon) for her 5:45 flight back to North Carolina, on my way back to Lansing. It's been years since I've seen her. North Carolina is just a little too far to travel in the mo-ho since we can only do long weekends right now. So I'm looking forward to spending the day with her.
So now it's time for a shower and hit the highway!

ps.....I bet with me gone Craig will sleep till noon!

my friday post

Good morning from a bit chilly Lansing.

It's currently 48 out. The coldest it's been all summer! But a heat wave is due back in a day or so.

It's been another busy week in the Salon.

Other than that, not much to say.

The mo-ho is still in the shop. I'll call today to see what's taking so long to replace that jack.

My sister from North Carolina flew in to Michigan yesterday for a surprise visit to our Mom. I'll go up to Muskegon on Monday to see her and take her back to the airport for her flight home.

And despite the lingering dryness, some late summer flowers don't seem to mind....

Helenuim, Perennial Hibiscus, and Ligularia Dentata.

Have a great weekend!

Mom

Good morning.
Just a quickie this morning.
We went to Muskegon yesterday to visit my Mom. It was an early birthday visit. We went to Red Lobster for lunch and then to the 'club'.
Mom seems to have embraced public transportation. There's 3 different services for seniors she can use. One will take her only to medical appointments, and doesn't cost anything. One will take her to the 'club' and it's $3 each way. It's the same with the store. Another will only take her within the city limits, (the 'club' is in North Muskegon) but it's only $1.50 each way, and that will take her to stores and another 'club' she belongs to.
I'm quite impressed she has it all figured out as good as she has. But Mom has always been very independent, and I knew she was going to be okay with out a car.
And that's all I got for now.

trip #2, the details

Good morning.
We spent part of our weekend at Muskegon State Park. Here's an early morning view from our campsite. This view is of Muskegon Lake.
Muskegon State Park has 2 campgrounds. The north campground which is on the lake, and the channel campground which is on the channel linking Muskegon Lake and Lake Michigan. Muskegon lake is the largest lake linking to Lake Michigan and is a major port for commerce.

Here is a pic of the Lake Express car ferry that runs numerous times daily between Muskegon and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

And above is a barge full of what looked like sand. Why they need to bring in sand is beyond me since this side of the state is full of sand. And below, the same barge the next day leaving empty.
But enough pictures. After an extremely busy work week, we packed up the mo-ho Saturday, and drove the 1 3/4 hour drive to Muskegon. Once we were set up, I called an old acquaintance I hadn't seen in years. He lives about 20 miles north of Muskegon. He tracked me down some years ago through the Internet and we were finally finding time to meet. We drove up to Whitehall, met him at his home, and had a nice dinner at the local Harbor View Grille. It was a very nice visit with an old friend.

On Sunday of course, it was time for Mother's Day. And over to her apartment we went. She is very happy to be back home, although not happy about not having a car and going when she wants. We discussed the various public options, and I think she'll look into that. We went out to Applebees for lunch. Mom and I had the house sirloin, and Craig had some kind of turkey wrap. It was all very good! Then over to the 'club' where we had drinks and pull-tabs, and did not hit a thing. On the way home we stopped at the store and got her some groceries. She was very tired when we got back to her apartment, but a happy tired. She knows it'll be awhile before I come back, and 2 of my brothers that live in the area, won't take her to the 'club'. They have an issue with her drinking. But anyway, on the way back to the campground, we picked up some wood and had a nice fire to end the evening, and on Monday morning, we packed and drove back to Lansing. I spent the rest of the day weeding, dividing, and working in the yard, while Craig did laundry and bookwork.

And of course, no trip of ours would be complete with out having an 'incident' and of course this trip was no different. Fortunately it was fairly minor. Saturday on the way to Muskegon, it was a very windy day. We almost cancelled the trip because driving a big box on windy days is no fun! But the wind was from the west, northwest, and I thought it would be okay since we'd be driving directly into it instead of it hitting us sideways. And really, it wasn't bad, but about 2/3 of the way there, our dryer vent cover came off and hit a car passing us. We were right near a rest area, and pulled in there with the car. She thought there would be damage from the loud noise when it hit, but couldn't find any. The vent cover is all plastic, but at 60 mph, probably did sound bad. So fortunately, it turned out okay. Now we'll need to get a replacement sometime. In the meantime, I duck taped over it to keep the rain out.

So, all in all a good trip.

Friday

Good morning.
The work week is going well. not real busy, but steady. I've got more customers dropping off pots, so I should have enough now for the plant sale.
Mom looks to be getting out of the rehab facility near the end of next week. That will be nice that she'll be home for Mother's Day.
Not much else going on.
Have a great weekend!

Mom

Good morning.
Well, it was another beautiful spring day yesterday, but no yard work. Instead, we went to Muskegon to visit my Mom. She's still in the nursing home/rehab center, but has been walking on her healed foot for just over a week. So she was looking forward to getting out of there for a few hours. It was her first time out since she arrived there in mid February. And she's walking pretty good. She thinks they'll let her out near the end of the month. So we went to Red Lobster where she had Tillapia, I had Salmon New Orleans, and Craig had Lobster nachos. All were yummy as usual. Then we needed to go to her apartment building and fill out dozens of forms for her renewal of government rent support. Then to the club, (VFW) for a visit with her friends there she hasn't seen since early Feb. She really enjoyed getting out for a few hours, and when we took her back, she promptly got into bed. She was pretty tired out from all the activity. We visited for a while more, then headed back to Lansing.
Since we had a big lunch, for dinner we just had ham sandwiches with leftover ham from Easter Sunday.
And here's a few more spring pics from the yard....

I love daffodils! They are so cheery in the early spring. As I write this post it's raining. Has been all night, so since it'll be too wet to work in the yard, I think we'll back out the mo-ho, and start getting everything back in it for the up-coming season. I just love spring!

weekend update

Good morning. Back to my morning posting. It seems like most of the country is getting snow. Good for you! Now you can enjoy it with me! :-P
And if you haven't seen enough, here's some pretty icicles.


First off, for those who asked. I don't frame puzzles. I undo the puzzles when we're done, and box them back up. I take them to work and give them to staff or customers. Any left go to Goodwill.
Now back to my latest update.
We started the day yesterday with Craig's regular trip to the doctor. He has his blood checked every few months since he's on Zetia for his cholesterol. And guess what. He had his best readings ever! I mean, his over all cholesterol was 199. His triglycerides where normal. His bad cholesterol was near normal and his good cholesterol was normal. Now what makes this so odd, you need to know a little history. His cholesterol use to be in the low 300's. He tried Lipitor, and his liver enzymes went crazy. So he tried Zetia. That eventually brought his reading down into the low-mid 200's. He's been on this for 2 1/2 years now. So last year, to try and bring it lower, I got Craig moving. He's not one to exercise so I got him walking. We'd walk everyday, where ever we could. The mall big box stores, anywhere we could get 30 min. or more in. Tried meatless meals, very low fat diet, red wine, cholestoff. Nothing would get his reading lower than 225-250.

So this year, I gave up pushing him. We've not eaten real good. Haven't walked all winter, and now he has his lowest reading ever! So now Craig thinks it's all a big crap shoot. Now I'll never get him to exercise ever again.

In other news. My new monitor went berserk yesterday. I restarted it after I downloaded some updates, and when it came back on, when I opened my browser, and tried to scroll down the page, it just went jerking slowly to the bottom. Very annoying, so I opened up my graphics card console and attempted to fix it. Nothing worked. So I googled the problem. Found out with my old puter, I needed a new driver for my graphics card to work with this new fancy monitor. Downloaded the new driver, installed it, restarted my puter, and............................................................................................It works perfectly!

I also called and talked to Mom. She's doing as well as can be expected. They are doing therapy everyday for her right foot trying to make it strong enough to use until the fractured left foot heals enough to start therapy on. She doesn't think it'll help, but like she said, "I've got nothing better to do". So her spirits seem good. And Bruce and Louie are really taking good care of things. Thanks guys!

I then check the tire pressure on the truck because I know I have a slow leak in one of the tires. Well, both the front tires were down to 12 lbs. They should be 30. It's a good thing I don't drive on the highway with the truck. I then worked on the puzzle, and played A-Train on the puter.

Then it was turkey burgers for dinner, and another episode of Spartacus.

And now it's time to get ready for another work week.

Stay warm.

a full day

Good morning,
A lot to tell you today. Yesterday like I said, was house cleaning time and I did do a thorough job. It looks great! Wish I had the incentive to keep it this way instead of just when guests arrive. But back to the beginning. At 8:20 am yesterday I get a call from my brother Bruce. He lives in Walker MI, about an hours drive from Lansing. Now I seldom get calls from Bruce, especially early in the morning, so I new it wasn't good, and I was right. My Mom's in the hospital again. She was in a car accident. She's okay except she broke her ankle. Her good ankle. And totaled her/my car. She went to the club(VFW) around 1:30 and the accident happened around 6pm as she was going home. She rear ended a truck at a stop light, careened off that into another car before going across the median and hitting a pole. Fortunately, no one else was hurt. But the/my car was totaled. The police are doing a full investigation which I'm pretty sure isn't going to be good. But now she'll have to go to a rehab facility since she won't be able to walk until the ankle heals. I said she broke her 'good' ankle. Well 15 or so years ago, she suffered a stroke which left her with some weakness on her right side. The weakness has magnified as she's gotten older. She now wears a brace to keep her ankle from giving out on her. So there's no way she can use that leg to walk on without the other. So this isn't going to be good. Several of my siblings have thought she should have given up driving several years ago. They may get their wish now. She's suppose to be released from the hospital today. My brother's Bruce and Louie were looking to find a facility for her. I'll keep you updated.
So I get Craig up, we have our coffee, read the paper and run some errands. We come home and I start cleaning while Craig does laundry and bookwork, when Craig shuts off the dryer and tells me there's a problem. I go into the laundry room and it smells like smoke. Oh great! The dryer's broken. Craig thinks maybe lint is blocking the exhaust vent, so we pull out the washer and dryer to get behind it. I take off the vent, it looks good from this end. Our dryer vent goes out the roof since we have a brick house and didn't want to break a hole in it when we installed the dryer. So I take off the connection to the ceiling, and it looks clear. I take a ruler and reach up to find the floating cap is stuck to the base. Our roof vent has a plastic cap the rests on the base, It's called a Heartland dryer vent closer system, and when the dryer is on 'floats' in the air letting the exhaust out. It works much better then the type that has
vent flaps because as lint collects around the flaps, they eventually never close tight, where as the cap comes back down when the dryer goes off and forms a nice seal. Well, it appeared to be frozen on. So I got a broom handle and gave it a good 'tap'. Of course I tapped too hard, and popped the entire thing off the vent pipe crashing to the ground and shattering into pieces. Soooo while I put everything back together in the laundry room, Craig ran to Menard's to get a new one which I put back together when he returned. At least it wasn't the dryer.
So I get the house clean, Craig finishes his work, and we relaxed with a couple of cocktails and watched some episodes of the Wanda Sikes show and Saturday night live on Hulu while we waited for our friends Tom and Dean to arrive. They're from Wisconsin and we go camping with them a couple times a year. They were in town staying with Deans brother. They came to town to see his Mom who lives near Holly, MI. about an hours drive east of here. They discovered some lesions on her brain and won't know what they are until more tests are done. So they may be in town more often. But they squeezed in a visit with us while they were here. We took them to Clara's for dinner. An old train station converted to a restaurant. They have an extensive menu. I of course had ribs, Craig, a burrito, Dean, nachos, and Tom a steak. There was almost nobody in the restaurant. It was weird. I can't believe everyone was home or in a bar watching the Superbowl! We then returned home for some home made brownies. It was good to visit with them.
Today should be less eventful.

Mom, work and pizza

A good Sunday morning to everyone.

First off, my Mom's back home. After trying to reach her at her hospital room with the phone # my brother e-mailed me, and not getting any answer, I finally called the hospital direct, to find that she was released Thursday night. My brother was told she would be there 2-3 more days. But anyway, she's home, she feels good, and she doesn't know exactly what was wrong. She was told she had fluid around her heart and lungs. Basically symptoms of Congestive heart failure. But they gave her medication to help the go to the bathroom, and that got rid of it. They did a bunch of tests, and said everything else looked good. So although she's not sure what exactly was the cause of the problem, she's better now. And thanks for all the good thoughts in the comments and e-mails.

And another work week has finished. A very busy week, but 2 of my Saturday appointments were no-shows. And of course, they were in the middle of the day, so I get to just sit and wait for the next one. Then, one of them calls after realizing she had missed her time, and then is upset I can't still take her that day. And, she didn't even apologise for missing her appointment! That really steams me! And I know it shouldn't. After all the years in this business, I've come to know all the different 'types' of people out there, and I should be use to it.

But anyway, it's now the weekend, and today, after I clean the salon and wake up lazybones, we're going to Grand Rapids, MI (about 50 miles east of Lansing) to a big RV show. I just love looking at the new motor homes I'll never be able to afford. :-)

And for a, it's the weekend treat, Craig made a pizza for dinner. Yummy!

So that's all I got for now.

a good trip

A chilly good morning. Winter has settled in for the long haul. It's 24 out right now as I write this. Still only a couple of inches on the ground here, unlike many places south and east. Oh, and you can keep it! We made it to and back from Muskegon yesterday. About a foot of snow there. Muskegon is about 90 mile due west of Lansing, and right on Lake Michigan, so they get that 'lake effect' snow. The highways were salted, so a fairly easy drive. Took mom to Red Lobster where I had their wonderful Salmon New Orleans. I've gotten this off and on for several years now and still lovin it. We split some stuffed mushroom caps and Mom had the Tilapia, and Craig had Scallops and Shrimp Scampi. Everyone said it was good, even though we ate too much. Then we stopped at the store to get mom some supplies, and then to the VFW for Monday 1$ drinks. That's right $1.00 for beers and well drinks. The place was empty when we arrived at 1pm, but was nearly packed at 3:30pm when we left. And the pull tabs? No luck at all this time. But not a complete waste. The VFW gets a third of the profits from the sales. Mom says it's been a life saver for the clubs, generating much needed revenue for repairs and upkeep.
Today, Craig has a routine doctors appt. and then grocery shopping for the week. And no extended holiday vacation for us. I've got an 11 hour work day on Wed. and about 7 hrs on Christmas Eve. Off Christmas day, and a full schedule on Saturday. You gotta work when there's customers, because it'll slow right down starting around the middle of Jan. as all our snow bird customers will have left for the winter.
That's all for now. Have a good week.